Through Glass
by Vanguard of Kings
Summary: Reverse AU. Gabriel and Castiel Novak know monsters exist. But life gets a whole lot more complicated when Castiel starts getting dreams. And when the Angels start meddling. Why can't anything ever just be simple?
1. The Hermit's House

Through Glass

Summary: Reverse AU. Gabriel and Castiel Novak know monsters exist. But life gets a whole lot more complicated when Castiel starts getting dreams. And when the Angels start meddling. Why can't anything ever just be simple?

Fandom: Supernatural

Rating: T for language, violence, and minor mature themes.

Warnings: Dark themes. AU. Novak brothers. Unrelated Winchesters.

Genre: Family, Friendship, Angst.

A/N: I saw a picture on tumblr that you may have also seen, of human!Gabe with his guardian angel, Sam. And ideas started flowing like crazy. Maybe I won't abandon this story. I hope not, at least. Hope you like, feel free to leave criticism and suggestions in the reviews. If this is being posted, I'm very confident with my drive. If I don't post for a bit, PM me about getting my butt into gear. It should do the trick ;)

About 2,700 words

 _Chapter One- The Hermit House_

 _I dreamed I saw St. Augustine  
Alive with fiery breath  
And I dreamed I was amongst the ones  
That put him out to death  
Oh, I awoke in anger  
So alone and terrified  
I put my fingers against the glass  
And bowed my head and cried_

 _-Bob Dylan_

"I hate to say it, but- well, this sucks," admitted him as he took a few steps of the doorway to the incredibly weather-beaten house. His normally tidy golden-blonde hair was very not so, and streaked with enough dust to make it several shades duller. There was a flush to his cheeks that was noted drily.

"It really doesn't sound like you hate to say it."

His companion was a dark haired man who was quite a bit taller than him, though his face said his years were less. His arms were crossed indignantly as he peered into the house with a confused expression. His brother smirked in response to the accusation.

"You're right. I really don't hate it." He took the sleeve of his sibling's ridiculous trench coat in hand and brought him down the path, away from the house. "So, we burned the bones. Should have taken care of the ghost. Therefore, what is the hag still doing in there?" He patted a hand through his hair, sending up puffs of dust.

His companion sneezed, drawing his sleeve away from the elder's grip. "It could be that we burnt the wrong bones, but I don't think so." His voice was raspy, probably from the overwhelming amount of dust that had just been stirred up while rushing for his life. "More likely, something's still tying her here."

"Then, what?" sighed the man with the dusty hair. "Everyone says she was a hermit. No family, hardly any possessions- and definitely not anything worth holding someone to this god-forsaken rock. The only thing she really had was-" He stumbled over the last part of the sentence, and was joined in by the man in the trench coat as they simultaneously comprehended;

"- _the house."_

The duo turned slowly back to the desolated shack with expressions of dread.

Their car had been chosen and bought by Castiel, and had been the bane of Gabriel's existence the entire five years they'd owned it. It was a golden '78 Lincoln Continental Mark V, which was truly just a fancy title for "douchemobile". When Gabriel had told Castiel such, the man had just replied with a defensive, "I like it." Gabriel had made a vow to have it wrecked within a week. Now, it appeared they were stuck with it. Though the mileage on the thing would have given most car enthusiasts a heart attack, due to the multitudes of cross country roadtrips the thing had seen.

Gabriel opened the back door and lifted the back seats for a hidden compartment underneath, and drew out two full cans of gasoline and and two lighters. He gave one of each to his brother before closing it back up. The compartment was less likely to be found than any other hiding space on the vehicle, and therefore kept their trips to prison at a minimal.

Castiel sniffed at the canister and wrinkled his nose in displeasure, looking out at the house. Gabriel closed the door and noticed his glance.

"What do you think is our likelihood of getting in and out with no problems at all?" asked the elder Novak, clutching the lighter at the ready and swirling his can of gas thoughtfully. They kept the cans at that ready at all times, which would probably have them labeled as psychopaths long ago if it weren't for the fact they had a wonderfully handy secret compartment to stash them in.

"Better question- what do you think our likelihood is that this will actually work?" Castiel raised an eyebrow pointedly, and Gabriel chuckled in delight.

"Touché!"

The dilapidated building wasn't being called so for light reasons. The place hadn't been entered in at least fifteen years, and it had an extremely severe mold and termite problem. Any mildly severe wind gust would be capable of reducing the building to rubble instantly. Gabriel stepped through first, and even just the weight of his small, lean body was enough to make the floorboards scream with protest, and a noise that sounded like billions of splinters forming underneath his feet. He winced and walked quicker, and when Cas entered he was carefully to avoid the first floorboard, for he was taller and more filled out than his older brother.

"Hurry up and start dousing," commanded Gabriel, even as Cas already began to do so. They tried to make paths of gasoline spread out from every doorway to shattered window as best the could, and the process took about ten minutes. The Novaks met outside the front door and on the porch when done, lighters lit and at the ready.

Gabriel felt his pulse building and thumping loudly in his ears, becoming the loudest sound around. Each second lifted the crescendo, so he took a breath. "Alright, on thr-"

Something heavy crashed into his chest and pushed the air from his lungs with such force that he choked, feeling asphyxiated. He landed hard on the asphalt ground behind him with an audible "oof!", and a coughing fit to go with it. He pushed up at the offending projectile, now identified as the moth eaten armchair from inside. He got it off just in time to watch flames spring up inside. The flames lit his brother's face as Castiel turned around to make sure his brother wasn't dead or anything, and Gabriel got a glimpse of a beautiful but worn woman inside as she screamed, and then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Castiel jumped down the steps and reached down to help Gabriel up. Gabriel lifted an arm, but then gasped in the fury of pain that splintered across his chest. Castiel frowned and supported Gabriel's torso first, instead. "Ribs?"

A breathy half-noise escaped his throat, which the raven haired man assumed meant "yes". Cas felt a tugging at the corners of his lips- it was a pretty comical situation- but he gingerly helped his older brother stand. "To the hospital it is."

"And you say- you say your brother was rammed by a _cow?"_ The doctor gave Castiel a skeptical look, and the man took on a sheepish one of his own. He was never a good liar, and the man had put him on the spot.

"I- I think so, sir. It was dark, I thought it was a cow. But I suppose it could have been something else. A car?

"Uh-Huh..." said Dr. Hunt slowly, the end of his pen held lightly between his teeth. He removed it, and shifted to place his clipboard on his lap. "Alright then. What're your names?"

They were sitting in an office type room adjacent to the one Gabriel had been brought too. Castiel guessed his distraught facade must have paid off, as the doctor had offered to give him assistance with filling out the paperwork. He'd only barely decided to take him up on his offer, after determining it was better to have something to do besides three minutes of paperwork. And talking to a fellow human couldn't be that bad, right?

Apparently he was capable of forgetting the fact he was practically as socially awkward as a man could realistically achieve.

"Richard and James Collins," Castiel supplied after a short moment of hesitation, using their most common aliases. His tone was calmer than it should have been, for a liar. "He's Richard, I'm James."

The doctor made note of that on his paperwork. "Relation?" he questioned, referring to the way Castiel and Gabriel were affiliated. Castiel hummed a tone in his head before deciding the truth could hardly hurt in this situation.

"We're brothers- well, legally. We were both adopted as kids." Castiel crossed his ankles anxiously and leaned forward, with his hands clasped in his lap. Questions made him nervous, which was frankly ridiculous considering how many he dealt with on a daily basis.

"Age?"

"He's twenty-seven." Castiel was twenty-two at the time, best that could be told. He had no birth certificate, though neither did Gabriel for that matter. They'd been dropped at the same orphanage, five years apart, though it wasn't a highly abnormal event.

"Any allergies we should know about?" Dr. Hunt hid a yawn behind his palm, though not his bored expression.

Castiel shrugged. "Not really. Pollen and dust, and dogs, but I doubt that's important." He took on a slight smirk, and his voice turned more conversational than it had been. "Though," he mused, dragging out the word, "he does have a bad reaction to sweets. We've been told it's not serious, but it doesn't do well in his system." He could almost hear Gabriel's cries of anguish, but quick calmed his mischievous side from showing outwardly.

"Alright then, Mr. Collins." Dr. Hunt capped his pen and leaned back, setting the clipboard down lightly on the desk. "Richard fractured two ribs, but they definitely aren't much to fret over; I assure you. We've given him a cast and some pain medications. He should be able to leave tomorrow, and be healed in two months of everything goes smoothly. I suggest you get a hotel room and, er-" he paused, taking on a wry expression. "-avoid any cows."

Castiel nodded solemnly, pretending not to notice the veiled accusation. "Definitely, sir. Thank you."

Dr. Hunt stood up and made to leave, then stopped as though confused and sniffed the air. "Say, do you smell that? It's like gasoline, I think." He looked at Castiel, who made his face one of pure innocence and shrugged.

Gabriel sat on his hospital bed with a disgruntled look on his face when his brother entered that morning. He sent Castiel a distasteful glance.

"You're a cruel, cruel man," he tutted, arms crossed over his chest in a rather pouty fashion for a man nearing the end of his third decade.

Castiel hid a smile and sat down in the chair next to his brother's bed. "They're discharging you this afternoon," he said through a yawn, a reminder neither had slept that night. "I'm sure you'll be able to make up for lost time then."

Gabriel saw the yawn, and was therefore unable to contain one of his own. This did nothing to help his irritation at his brother, or his put-out mood in general. "Get out so I can sleep."

When no answer came, he looked in his brother's direction- but judging by Castiel's slumped form and the head dropped on the side of his bed, it appeared he'd already decided to take a siesta of his own. Gabe gave a huff, but more of affectionate irritation, and settled back for his own bit of shut eye.

 _A young woman no older than twenty stared down a man of similar age, despite her much shorter height in comparison. She gave a fiendish look by spreading her teeth into something akin to a smile- but no, this wasn't human at all- and slashed at him with knife in hand. The blade came dangerously close to splitting open his jugular, but the man was skilled. He grabbed her hand at the wrist, twisting so she was forced to turn her back to him. He brought her own hand, blade in hand, up against her neck. Tiny droplets of thick, sticky redness welled up, and she struggled like a wild animal for two seconds before, without so much as batting an eye, he drew her blade sharply through her neck._

 _The scene fizzled more than transitioned into another one, shaky as though this were something unsteady, something new._

 _Gabriel looked at him and his eyes glowed a brilliant, magnificent blue that shined into what seemed to be his very soul. He got the sense this wasn't truly Gabriel. The being occupying Gabriel, or perhaps the being resembling Gabriel, gave him a curt look. "It's time to talk."_

 _The transition was more abrupt, like the dream was experimenting with its ability._

 _A glimpse was all he got this time, of a man with a terrifying sort of deadly calmness on his face, coated in red blood and something similar, but sticky and black. The same black color that completely filled his eyes._

 _And then it was like a switch was flipped, and the frames shot by at an exponentially growing speed. He caught glimpses and sounds but had no opportunity to reflect on them._

 _A shattered bottle of alcohol. An amulet. "Not yet." Another killing. "Why?" Gabriel laughing. "I'm sorry." Blood dripped down the walls in buckets. "You fault." "I told you." Glowing tablets in familiar writing. Yellow, catlike eyes. "I'm sorry." Lifeless eyes, only too accusatory. "I'm sorry." The blood dripped in heavier quantities, and he could hear it's endless stream. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." The stench of sulfur and the iron of life, making him gag, suffocating him beyond functioning ability. "No, no I'm_ **sorry** _..."_

"Castiel."

 _A swing swung back and forth, as though just unoccupied. He watched it as though hypnotized, feeling intensely like something was supposed to be there. He stepped forward and grabbed the chain himself to bring it to a halt, and it obeyed the laws of physics just as it should. He couldn't figure out why this upset him. He sat down heavily and extended his knees before lifting his feet from the ground. This playground had an overwhelming sense of familiarity, a sense of safety unlike what he'd felt in many years. He held his trench coat over his arm, and it was this fabric that seemed even more physical than that of the cold chain, or the plastic supporting him from the ground. How curious. He held it to his chest like a child might their favorite toy._

 _"_ Cas."

 _Somehow, he was aware he wasn't alone. But he didn't feel threatened at all. In fact, he felt protected. How nice. Maybe it was Gabriel. After all, he kept hearing his annoying voice over and over again._

"Hey, wake the hell up already."

 _He glanced over his shoulder, but no- no one there, and certainly not Gabe._

"I said get. Up!"

 _Cas felt a sudden pressure on his head, but it was calming. The light it radiated was not. It built and built until he was squinting, writhing, shrinking away with genuine fear of being blinded..._

Castiel blinked his eyes open with hesitation, fearing the light may still be there- instead, he jumped back in terror at the absurdly close proximity of Gabriel's nose to his, and nearly tumbled out of his chair with the shock of it all. Gabriel laughed with pleasure at that, but quickly took on the manipulatively sullen look he was good at.

"Wakey wakey bro, I want to get checked out and head out."

Cas took a few calming breaths, frowning to himself as much of the memories from his dream faded into nothingness, or subconscious. He blinked a few times to clear his head and wake himself up.

Gabriel crossed his arms, a difficult task with the plaster across his chest. "Hey, you okay? Nightmare maybe?"

Castiel shrugged. "I don't really remember," he admitted, grabbing his trench coat off the chair. He bit his lip in a last ditch attempt to remember, but nothing but feelings came to him. He sighed internally, and nodded at Gabe. "Let's go."

"That's the spirit," laughed the blonde brother, who lead the way from the hospital room with awkward, stiff steps. Cas closed his eyes one more time, but all he saw was painfully bright light. He frowned and opened his eyes, then followed his brother out.


	2. New Divide

_Chapter Two- Welcome to the New Divide_

A/N: All music mentioned in this story will be real music, and none of it will be owned by me (shocker). I highly recommend you listen to the songs though so you can get an experience of the mood of the scene, or just a peek into Gabriel's thoughts. Or just because. Any music suggestions, let me know! I may mention it in a car scene.

About 2,600 words

Songs mentioned in this chapter:

Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden

Hysteria by Muse

 _It's a new dawn_

It's a new day

It's a new life

For me

And I'm feeling good

-Feeling Good, Muse cover

Gabriel sat stiffly in the passenger seat, clearly uncomfortable with the length of plaster holding his torso safely in place. He dropped his head back onto the seat, a white stick of a dum-dum sucker poking from his lips. In his lap was lain a pocket sized journal, one of three. Any Hunter who wasn't an idiot always kept some record of their missions, and where they'd been. It was as close to textbooks as Hunters grew up with, but also hard to come by. Castiel and Gabriel had made mistake after mistake before coming across that of a man named Remington Tanner, who was described as killed by "something dark, scary, and terrifying." The blood splatters on the cover were more than enough explanation about the degree of scariness the creature was due to obtain.

That journal was in the compartment under the back seats, with Castiel's- he had no need for it while driving, and could make additions later. The one Gabriel had with him was his own, full of five years worth of tales, pictures, newspaper articles, snarky comments, and cold hard facts.

 **August 29, 2011**

 **Location: Middlebury, Vermont**

 **The ghost killed her fifth victim last night, a forty year old man who'd jogged by and gotten too curious.** (A small newspaper clipping was stapled to the upper right corner of the page with the title "Jogger Mystery: Suicide or Murder?) **. On the bright side, we know a name and burial location. She was Rachel Arlington, a thirty-three year old widow who apparently left her home for almost nothing after her husband's murder. As for why she's doing the killings, and what the patterns are, Cas and I have no idea. But it doesn't really matter, because she won't be a problem after tonight. Bye, sweetheart. Don't rest in hell.**

He snorted, reading the entry. _Ah, but only if_ , he chided his past self futilely. He bit his pen with his teeth in thought, then jotted in a note that looked like an aside rather than an actual entry.

 **One day, a rib cast, and a burnt house later- if you're dealing with a hermit type bitch, always burn the house too. Just FYI.**

He capped the pen with satisfaction. Perfection.

He sent a glance aside at his brother, who was driving with his eyes focused on the road. It wasn't abnormal for the younger Novak to go for some considerable lengths without initiating conversation, but some was off about him. He seemed distracted in a way that wasn't like him. Gabriel hid a frown by tossing his finished sucker into a trash bag and popping in a jolly rancher instead. There was a click as the front compartment in the dash was opened and his journal and pen dropped inside, and another as it closed.

At least it wasn't like it was completely silent, something that would have driven Gabriel insane. The radio played illegally downloaded music on Gabriel's phone, for Castiel didn't care much about the music that was played during their roadtrips. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden was halfway through its tune, but the music was far to slow to hold Gabriel's interest. He scanned through his list of songs, and gave a quirked smile before selecting Hysteria by Muse.

Much better.

"Bugging me, grating me, and twisting me around..." Gabriel kicked his feet on the dashboard, half humming and half singing. "Yeah, I'm endlessly caving in, and turning inside out..."

Castiel, unbeknownst to his brother, rolled his eyes. He tapped his rough, worn fingers on the steering wheel to the beat. If Gabriel kept stretching himself into odd positions, they'd likely have to stop at another hospital in the next hundred miles. It was like the man was actually incapable of sitting still.

But Gabriel's thoughts had been correct- Castiel was distracted, but he couldn't quite wrap his head around what exactly it was that was distracting him in the first place. His hands itched with the desire to write whatever it was that was knocking at the back of his skull, but nothing was there to write. The strangest things had been setting off déjà vu the entire day, all eight hours of driving. Gabriel had laughed a few hours back and Castiel had thought he was about to have a heart attack from the overwhelming sense of familiarity.

He adjusted the steering wheel, noticing the car beginning to slant lightly towards the side of the road. The physicality of the action brought him back from his deep thoughts, and now Gabriel was humming some unfamiliar song that was definitely not of the appropriate type. Gabriel noticed the glance and with a lopsided smirk switched the song.

"Just messing with you, Cassie," he claimed, putting his palm against the back of his neck.

The Mark V swerved abruptly to the side of the road as both Novak's were forced to turn away from the road, lest they be blinded. As it was, there was a deafening **BOOM** which left Gabriel's eardrums ringing loudly. Castiel's pulse quickened as that very same déjà vu feeling rose up in his chest, and he forced himself to take deep breaths and calm down.

The light had hardly even begun to dull before the doors of the car were popped open and the Novak brothers were warily walking forward. Both held their arms in front of their faces for protection against the shining whatever, but it was fading very fast. And then, just like that, it was dusk again- cool air, and shadowy colors all around.

Gabriel lowered his forearm hesitantly, a hand on the handle of the gun in his belt as Castiel drew his. The younger titled his head in confusion at the scene though, and turned to glance around.

"Gabriel, I don't see anything that could have done that." And just what was "that", anyway? Certainly nothing Castiel had ever seen, and he'd seen a lot of odd crap in his life.

Gabriel drew to a slow stop, glancing down at the ground without saying a word. He seemed horror stricken, or maybe just struck dumb with confusion. That worried Castiel, as he'd never actually seen such an expression on his brother's face. He took cautious steps forward to join him.

Then, he also stopped cold.

Because what he saw was so utterly bizarre and horrifically beautiful that he couldn't help but stare in wonder, matching expressions with Gabriel. It was like some artist had stopped on the side of the road and decided to make a prized masterpiece out of charcoal, but Castiel had a sick feeling inside his chest that said this wasn't charcoal- it was too realistic, and the air still smelled like something burning. A feather floated as though being pushed by the heat radiating the concrete, and Gabriel gingerly caught it as it made its descent. He clenched it in his fist, unsure if he were about to puke or faint.

It was a magnificent wingspan, at least fifteen feet wide. Each feather was placed perfectly and naturally along the bone structure. The shoulders of the wings met as though there was meant to be something joining them, but there was nothing there.

After what felt like an eternity, Gabriel glanced over at his brother. "Well... that's new," he said drily, and Castiel nodded slowly. They took further steps to the mural, and where they stepped the charred ground didn't smear- like it was meant to be there, and wasn't designed to be removed.

Two men drove their beaten down car to the side of the road. Gabriel debated telling them to get lost, but opted instead to ignore them. After all, they couldn't mean any harm. One hat a baseball hat on and a cigarette sticking from his mouth just like the stick of Gabe's sucker, and the other had oily but well groomed dark hair. They were only spared a passing glance, but it was enough to make Castiel and Gabriel take a few steps closer to each other and away from them, on significant alert. Castiel started to reach for his gun, but a hand grabbed his wrist and stopped him cold. "No, stay still."

The voice was commanding but not unkind, but definitely unfamiliar. Gabriel and Castiel jumped around and Gabriel started to draw at his own gun. But then he looked at the owner of the voice and just let his hand settle on the handle.

He was a young man, no older than nineteen at the absolute most. His hair was a sandy blond color, and he was tall with lanky limbs. His face was urgent too, not threatening at all. Rather he seemed agitated and nervous. He looked beyond at the two men who were surveying the imprinted wings, as though taking their time, and it only seemed to panic him more.

"Sorry guys, we're gonna want to move. Now."

Gabriel looked over his should at the men, and one of them met his eyes and murmured something to his friend in a low voice. Unnerved, he looked to the stranger. "I'm sorry, why do we want to do that?"

"Because I'm guessing you two idiots would like to live past the next ten minutes." He was snappish- in a hurry, frustrated, or perhaps both. He took a few steps back, inviting the Novak's to follow him. Castiel, of a more trusting nature than Gabriel, took half a step after him.

The stranger's gaze focused sharply on something behind Gabriel and suddenly pulled his gun. The shot was fired before Gabriel's had completely lifted from his holster, but it didn't matter; the bullet wasn't meant for him. He rotated to watch the greasy hair man go down hard, bouncing where he hit the pavement.

Castiel instantly trained his gun on their stranger, but he wasn't looking at either Novak brother. Even when Gabriel's jaw dropped and he exclaimed with a loud, "What the hell?!", and had a second gun aimed his way, he barely flinched. Instead, he held his own straight at Baseball Cap guy.

"Let the man go." Hearing orders come from such a young man was very strange and difficult to take seriously, except for the tone. His voice was cold, professional, and left no room for arguments. His gun arm was level, and steady.

Cas and Gabe exchanged looks, and Gabe voiced the questioned that occurred to both. "Sorry, let who go?" He saw no one else around, and the truck that had been pulled up was empty as far as he could tell.

"Not now," said the stranger in a low voice through gritted teeth, his attention definitely not on Gabriel.

Baseball Cap man looked down at his fallen partner and gave a heavy sigh. "Aw, he was my poker buddy."

Castiel was far too overwhelmed with confusion of what was even happening to made his expression more discombobulated than it already was. He got the idea Gabriel was also just planning to wait this out, ask questions later. But his body got chills at the humored sadness in the man's voice, and a headache throbbed at his temples as he swore he saw the man's eyes flicker black.

A quick transfer of aim by Gabriel suggested he'd also noticed it, and that made Cas feel a bit more secure in his sanity. But the condition of déjà vu made him nearly sick. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the situation at hand.

"What the hell are you?" Gabriel demanded, with a signature flare of sass that normally would have amused Castiel.

Baseball Hat dude shifted his gaze to Gabriel, but only smiled teasingly before returning it to the stranger. Said stranger kept up his cold gaze with frightening intensity.

"Release him. He doesn't have to die to get rid of you."

The man laughed, and mimed a tear sliding down his face. "Oh, why not? That's half the fun." He winked his nightmare black eyes.

There was another deafening bang of the gun, and a bright spark of metal on metal from the gun. The stranger stepped forward quickly, muttering something very unfamiliar as the Novaks watched in stunned fascination.

The man with the black eyes had been shot square in the knee cap, bringing him crumbling to the ground. He yelled and put up a great fuss, but something suggested it wasn't the pain from the bullet. Both brothers had had their fair share of bullets, but this man was writhing as though his entire form was on fire. He head twisted around with painful intensity.

 _"- cessa dispere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae-"_

The man screamed in agony, and Castiel watched in horrified fascination as Gabriel stepped forward quickly. "The hell are you doing?!"

 _"-perditionis venenum propinare_." He paused, taking a breath. _"Humiliare sub potenti menu Dei, audi nos!"_

The man opened his mouth to scream again as Gabriel roughly grabbed the stranger's shoulder, but then stopped once more to stare as black smoke, like that of a storm cloud, was sucked out of his lungs in a pillar of darkness. He, the man, screamed the whole time until it was out all the way. The black pillar dissipated to some other where as the man collapsed with a very noisy _thump_ onto the side of the road.

The stranger wasted no time turning to Gabriel and Castiel. "We have to get away. Now. There's more of them on their way."

"Hold on just a second-" Gabriel spluttered as Castiel nodded.

"A-alright." The tall man pulled out his phone, presumably to call the police for this poor man who was lying unconscious on the ground with a bullet hole it his leg.

"Wait, stop with the orders! Who do you think you are?!" demanded the elder Novak with a tone of authority. The stranger turned around and faced him, easily looking down on him.

"Death or knowledge, man. Your choice." The man stepped towards the Mark V, where Castiel hung up. "How long until they get here?"

"Less than ten minutes," estimated Castiel.

"Cas!" Gabriel yelped, feeling a bit betrayed. His brother shrugged at him.

"I'm sure he'll explain later. But we should leave before the police get here."

Gabriel stood a few meters away with a conflicted expression, but realized protesting at this time was absolutely ridiculous and simply withdrew his keys. The car doors unlocked with a soft click, and three men- well, two men and a very young man- got in.

"At least tell us who you are," Gabriel grumbled, turning the keys in the ignition.

As the car jumped to life, the stranger turned away from his lookout position, scanning the road for more vehicles. He looked uneasy now that he was out of the crosshairs, which seemed extremely backwards to Gabriel. Nevertheless, he tried to offer an unsure smile in greeting. "My name's Adam Milligan. I'm a Hunter."


	3. Not Quite Right

_Chapter Three- Not Quite Right_

Shortest chapter yet, but that's to attribute it to the lack of action and the fillerness of this chapter. Sorry. Though, some stuff does happen.

 _Somewhere along the line,  
Things get chipped away.  
This place keeps going down.  
Get a little worse every day.  
I see the hate and greed;  
This world's a messed up town  
-The Offspring_

The car's engine hummed softly, the only sound for a few moments as each of its three occupants made an attempt to get their bearings. But Gabriel only felt his chest continuing to constrict as he realized how little he'd understood about what had happened back there.

Castiel looked back at their new companion through the mirror, his too blue eyes piercing. "We're Hunters, too."

"Yeah, yeah." Gabriel's tone was condescending. "That's wonderful. Comrades in arms and all that." He withdrew a mint from his pocket and pushed it around his mouth.

"Can you tell us what just happened?" Castiel asked, ignoring his brother. But his voice made it clear this wasn't a request.

Adam looked out the window a bit longer, watching the road markers and signs. He frowned. "Hey, where are we? I'm in Pennsylvania?"

Castiel looked a bit displeased that he had been ignored. Gabriel nodded though. "Edinboro, if you want something exact. We just finished a case in the middle of Vermont, and we were heading to Ohio when we got blinded by whatever firecracker that was." He hit the accelerator with a little more force than necessary, throwing both Cas and Adam back against their seats. "Now, hows about you answer my brother before I drop you off and watch you walk?"

Adam was clearly irritated with the authoritative turn in Gabriel's voice, but clasped his hands. He appeared to understand there was little more stalling that could be achieved here. His face took on a more weathered and worn look, uncharacteristic of any nineteen year old. "I don't even know where to start, if you didn't know about any of that."

"Then answer our questions," Castiel suggested, eager to find out what exactly they had just come across. "Who were those men that came? What'd you do to them?"

This appeared to take Adam off guard. "What sort of Hunters are you? Those were demons. I exorcised one, and killed the vessel of the other one."

The Novaks met eyes in the mirror, simultaneously gaining understanding. Their stolen journal, from which they'd learned most of what they had about Hunting, had mentioned demons three times- describing separate encounters. Demons, they'd gathered, were exactly what they sounded like- demonic in origin, possibly coming from hell itself. A human soul twisted beyond recognition, according to the lore. And extremely dangerous and powerful, beyond your everyday monsters.

But no, they'd never come across one. It suggested they were way below the demon radar, and if they were honest neither were exactly eager to go after something beyond the likes of what they'd seen thus far.

"We're the type that haven't had to tangle with them yet," supplied Gabriel, knuckles white on the steering wheel as though he were put too much focus into driving.

Dusk had given way to night at some unnoticeable point, and the lights of the interstate lit up Adam's features as he sighed. "Well, I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you this; but they know who you are now, and they have connected you to what went on back there-"

"And what was that, exactly?" Castiel questioned firmly. "What exactly happened there?"

Adam lifted his shoulders and then let them drop. "Hell if I know. I was just tracking those two when you guys showed up and forced me to deal with them before I could get any information!" The last statement was snapped and accusatory. Gabriel looked at him through the rear view window, looking unsure if he should be irritated or placating.

"Hey, kid-"

"Adam," ordered the kid with an air of someone used to being in charge.

Gabriel ignored him. "- it's done. It's over with. What's your plan now?"

The question, rather than make him think, appeared to make Adam grow stoic. "I guess I'll rest for the night, and make sure you two survive through it by some miracle. You've never met a demon before? Seriously?

This question seemed mostly directed to Castiel, which confused the younger Novak. He shook his head though. "Not that we're aware of. We know how to deal with them, though."

Neither brother expected Adam to scoff. "Oh, you've read about them, is that it? So of course you're prepared." Sarcasm dripped from him easily as water. He grew serious in an instant. "Your little book is not going to do much for two hunters who have never so much as seen one of them. They're smart, they're sadistic, and you can't underestimate them or you'll die."

Castiel turned his head to look back, preferring it to using the mirror to speak. "You look exceptionally young to be a Hunter on your own," he observed, eyes surveying him. Adam frowned and look down at himself as though he had never heard this before. But then, he shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. I'm still more experienced than either of you, apparently. And I'm probably your only shot at staying alive. So I'm going to stick around, show you what to do, and you're going to listen." With that, he sat back in his seat and crossed his arms; unmoving.

"Well," Gabriel said after a few moments of awkward silence. "I guess that's that."

The motel in Youngstown was on the worn down side, but far from the worst place either Novak had stayed. The brothers sat on the edges of their respective beds and watched when Adam reentered their room with a bundle of rock salt, a jug of water, an ornate bowl, and a jar of red paint. The ease with which he carried what should have been a slightly heavy load seemed disproportionate to his figure, but neither chose to comment on it; they'd pretty much accepted that Adam was an anomaly, for the moment.

The young man dropped the items on the motel's kitchen counter and got immediately to work, talking as he did.

"Do you guys know the weaknesses of demons?" There was a note of arrogance in his tone as he yanked off the cross necklace that sat on his neck and dropped it into the bowl.

Gabriel rolled his eyes in Castiel's direction, visualizing his annoyance with Gabriel. "Yeah, yeah. We know. Holy water burns them, salt deters them, and demon traps hold them. And an exorcism can send them back to hell."

"Sometimes," Adam corrected, pouring a large amount of the water jug into the bowl and closing his eyes, something about him seeming almost pained as he prepared for the blessing. "Take the rock salt and cover all entrances while I do this, if they decide to come for you it won't hold them a whole bunch. But it will do." Adam held his hand over the bowl as he began to chant in Latin, something unfamiliar to either listening ears. But they both got the hint and jumped to their feet.

Castiel grabbed mugs from the kitchenette and handed one to Gabriel for better scooping ability, and both quickly understood salt barriers were tedious work. The mugs were fairly small and they didn't get much better than half the door before having to return for a refill. Ten minutes later, when they thought they were done, Adam snapped something about a bathroom window and Gabriel groaned with the realization that windows counted as entrances, and started again.

The room was fully covered in salt and the water had been purified of all hellish property, Adam busted open the paint can.

"You'll want to get used to hauling this around," the young Hunter explained as the lid cracked off.

"What do you mean by 'used to'?" Castiel questioned, after having made another run to the kitchenette for supplied silverware. Adam frowned in the way Gabriel was starting to recognize as his expression for confusion and surprise both, then shook his head and took the silverware from Castiel.

"You two are on demon radar. And demons are immortal. Until you learn how to deal with them much better, you'll want to take extra precaution."

Gabriel stood up on his feet and took a deep breath, and then gave an unamused smile. "Well, that's positively fantabulous. But what do you mean by extra precautions? More than this?"

"I have a few things, but mostly not to trust anyone unless-" He received a flick of droplets on his face and his expression froze. He seemed stunned, and it took him a couple seconds to look over at Gabriel. Gabriel was drying his hand of holy water on his pants, and shrugged.

"Nothing personal kid. But you are kind of strange."

Adam bit his cheek, then dipped the back end of the fork into his bucket of red and stood on his feet. He held out his hand. "Trust me for a few seconds, and give me your arm."

Castiel could tell Gabriel was struggling between indeed offering up the trust and showing he wasn't a coward, and refusing and showing he was cautious. In the end, Adam's young face and extended hand as though a peace offering won over, and he bared his own arm.

The paint was cold and heavy, but Adam made a point of not being rough as he drew a symbol that was actually rather fascinating. Pentagrams were well known for devil warding so he trusted that this wasn't some sort of demonic trick, but he was still confused. The pentagram was encircled with a ring of what seemed akin to flame. The kid's face was concentrated on his task, and the sigil was drawn with the neatness of a practiced hand. When it was completed, Adam rubbed the red off the fork and onto his jeans.

Gabriel inspected it and waited to see if anything changed, but he felt nothing. He shrugged at Adam. "So... what is this, then?"

"Anti-possession," Adam said with a wry smile and he knelt back beside the can. "That's not the actual name for it, but that's it's function. Unless that's rubbed off or broken, no demon can take you for a joyride no matter how much they want to."

"Uh huh," Gabriel said slowly, making an effort to hold his arm out and away from his body while it dried. "Do you have one?"

Adam paused for a few moments in his process of beginning work on Castiel's arm. After a few moments, he nodded. "Yeah. Demons can't jump me, either. It's useful, you should remember it."

When Cas sported an identical symbol, Adam pulled over a chair and set the can on the table beside it, and stood on top of the chair to begin painting on the ceiling. At the collective confusion of the room's other occupants, he brushed it off by explaining, "They'd expect it on the floor. Less likely to look up."

The devil's trap on the ceiling took a significantly longer time to complete than anything else, and about halfway through Castiel filled a flask with holy water and declared that he was going to go grab weapons from the trunk and get extra supplies from the grocery store, to which Gabriel advised him to be careful. Castiel laughed as though this were humorous and left Gabriel largely unsatisfied that he would be so.

Once the door was shut and the salt repositioned, Gabriel asked Adam a question that had been weighing on his mind for a bit. "So you don't know what those wings were from?"

Adam's answer was quick, and sure. "No clue. Must be something important though, if the demons reacted so fast."

"What makes you think it was fast?" Gabriel pointed out. He remembered the white light , he remembered the feeling like being blinded; he didn't remember Adam showing up until after this was over. It was possible the incidences- the light and the wings- were unrelated, but he found that prospect unlikely.

Adam brushed off that question, as he had proven he had a habit of doing. "I'm assuming. You two stopped for that light, and they showed up hardly a minute later. Obviously that meant something." Adam finished painting and stepped down with a few globs of red paint in his hair and on his face. Despite the arduously long day he must have had, his eyes were bright with energy and he hadn't slowed once yet, and Gabriel was impressed with his resilience.

"It was a very pretty light," Gabriel said sarcastically. Adam snorted appreciatively but seemed distracted as he snatched up the complimentary notepad and pen and scribbled something down in a flourish. He held the paper out and with a moment of hesitation Gabriel took it and glanced. It was a ten digit phone number. "Yours? You're a very pretty man Adam, but you're not quite my type." He mock-winced.

Adam rolled his eyes as though washing himself clean of the suggestion and nodded, brushing his hands on his pants and stepping up to the elder Novak. "Yeah, it's mine. I can't stay, I have to follow the trail while it's fresh."

Gabriel waved his hands, visually pushing away the explanation. "Hey, hey! We haven't finished asking questions yet." It was true, and there were still holes in Adam's story that were greatly aggravating Gabriel, though he had done nothing thus far but help them that didn't make him not mysterious or threatening.

Adam looked down at the ground and nodded to himself, then met Gabriel's eyes firmly. "Too bad. Call if you need me." And just like that he walked out the motel door and closed it behind him with a click, signifying its finality.

Gabriel ran after him with full intention of dragging the kid back in until he knew everything- Adam was definitely hiding something or another- but there was no one in sight. He frowned and did a full circle, squinting off into the night, but no. Adam was gone, and he had no idea where he'd gone.

Gabriel huffed in annoyance and stepped back inside, repositioning the salt yet again only to have it disrupted by Castiel returning with a small bag of groceries in hand.  
The younger Novak looked around in curiosity, then tilted his head at Gabriel. "Where's Adam?"

Gabriel groaned.


End file.
